Original subtitles

This is a story of conquest, betrayal and courage.

The story of a son of a Viking sovereign forged in the shadow of battle.

A man destined for nothing, yet fated to build an empire.

He was larger than life in his lifetime and is somebody who had wide -ranging

achievements that surprised even many of his contemporaries.

The story of a man who became ruler of three kingdoms.

A Viking who became an emperor.

It's one of the great medieval success stories. What he does, we have no word

for. It's completely new.

This is the legend of Canute, emperor of the North Sea.

No longer mere invaders.

They are now conquerors.

After a lightning -fast campaign, Cnut and Svein have subdued England.

The nobility has sworn allegiance to them.

And King Æthelred has been driven into exile in Normandy.

From this moment on, the land is theirs.

But conquering a kingdom is one thing.

Becoming its rightful rulers is another.

Canute and Swain did not come to fundamentally change everything about

society. They came to take over its head, the head of the snake, as it were,

control that. Once Swain has effected military conquest of England, he then

achieve legitimacy and authority.

And that... cannot be asserted purely at the end of a sword or a spear. And so

that starts with convening the so -called Witan, that is, leading magnates

England who represent the realm, and having them elect a monarch.

Canute and Thane must now secure the loyalty of all the members of the Witan.

One of its most influential members resides in York.

Archbishop Wulfstan, a pious and austere man, and one of the

fiercest opponents of the Vikings.

We know that Wulfstan was deeply concerned by the Viking threat.

He seems generally fearful of the return of unchecked paganism in early 11th

century England.

And you see there a man who is railing and screaming about, this is the end of

the world, this is the apocalypse, this is the end of everything.

So he sees the Vikings as sent by God to punish the English for their sins. And

I think for Wolfstan, the Vikings become a symbol of the Antichrist.

Winning such a man over may seem impossible, but Knut is

about to present a powerful argument.

Though many Danes still cling to pagan traditions, Knut himself

was raised in the Christian faith.

All of Canute's actions suggest that he was indeed Christian and his dynasty was

riding on the coattails of Christianity.

It's his grandfather, Harold Bluetooth, who'd also made the Danes Christian.

Because one of the crucial teachings that the church has is that there are

monarchs put in place by the grace of God, that God has created the social

order. So if tapped into correctly, Christianization and the Christian faith

become a powerful force.

The piety displayed by Thane and Knut appears to reassure Wulfstan, yet no one

can truly guess their real intentions.

For Thane, the time has come to summon the Witan.

Back in Gainsborough, he sends his messengers across the kingdom.

The Assembly will meet in three weeks in York, not London.

For it is from the north that he intends to rule England, abandoning Wessex, the

traditional heart of English royal power.

After he's conquered England, there's a lieutenant being called in York. Well,

clearly, it's to crown him king.

and it's to give Canute some sort of office or title in that region. And that

crucial because we can see then how close Sven is to the north, how much he

focuses energies on it, and also what a dreadful mistake he made. Because you

can't run a kingdom from its least organized part.

powerhouse of England is in the south.

That's where the bureaucracies, that's where the towns are, that's where the

markets are.

Primarily that's where the money -making machine is. And if you want to be in

England, and you want to control it, you've got to do it from the south.

England is about to open a new chapter in its history.

Nothing seems capable of halting the advance of the two Danes.

And yet, Fate will decide otherwise.

Canute rushes back to Gainsborough.

He has been summoned to the Royal Palace.

At dawn, his father's lifeless body is discovered.

The Conqueror of the North has died suddenly at the age of 50, at the height

of his power.

His reaction, of course, to his father's death has to be enormous shock.

Enormous shock. This is not what they had planned.

They're about to become legitimate rulers.

They're about to be accepted by the nobles, ecclesiastical and secular, of

whole country, and suddenly his father's dropped down dead.

There would have been a part of him, at least, that is pleased that his father,

who was one of the main obstacles other than his brother, to his own ambitions,

was gone, because he can't be king fully until Swain's gone.

Standing before the man to whom he owed everything, Canute finds himself utterly

alone, for he knows that now everything rests upon him.

Swain's conquered England, but has not managed to establish that kind of

authority that will allow him to pass the throne without opposition.

to a son, because he's only been in England a matter of months, not even a

year. So for Canute, that's come too fast.

Does he want to claim to be king of England following his father's death, or

does he have to go back to Scandinavia? That sort of uncertainty, I think, would

have been a tremendous pressure for Canute at this time.

Returning to Denmark is impossible.

His brother, Harald, has almost certainly claimed the crown.

Without hesitation, Connaught asserts his right to the throne of England.

He knows he can rely on the loyalty of his army, and above all, on the hostages

handed over by the English nobility the previous year as pledges of allegiance.

The Witan should be nothing more than a mere formality.

Yet, behind the scenes of power, a very different reality is beginning to

emerge.

He is elected king by the Danish army, but the English, unsurprisingly, stop

say, wait a second, Swain was a known entity, highly experienced campaigner,

were submitting to him, not to his son. That wasn't the deal. It was Swain as

king.

He's just a young boy to the English nobility. He's not even the king of the

Danes. And they would be conversations in dark corners about the possibilities

here. What do we do?

In York, Wollstone has chosen his side.

Before a nobility consumed by doubt, he delivers a sermon heavy with warning.

The Sermon of the Wolf.

A radical text calling on the English to rise up and save their kingdom.

Thermo Lupi at Angloth is perhaps most famous of the many apocalyptic sermons

Wolfstan of York, and in this he is...

all of the terrible things the English have done and all of the signs of God's

wrath upon them, including the fact that they have exiled their king, that

they've sent their king into exile, their rightful king, Ethelred.

As guardian of moral order within the kingdom, he calls on every man to stand

ready to defend his king.

In the utmost secrecy.

the English nobility sends envoys across the channel to Normandy.

There, Æthelred has taken refuge under the protection of his

brother -in -law, Duke Richard II.

For the old king, this sudden turn of events may offer one final chance to

reclaim his throne.

And so they open negotiations, and part of the deal struck with Ethelred is that

he agrees to rule them more justly than he had before. That is the condition of

their return.

Ethelred appears to acknowledge his past failures.

He accepts the negotiated terms of his return.

promising to rule more wisely, to show greater respect to his subjects, and to

forgive those who had betrayed him during the previous year.

So in a sense, they prefer to bring in Ethelred 2 .0 rather than risking it

a relatively unknown Canute from a completely different kingdom.

Ethelred now plays what may be his last car.

He calls upon all those who reject Danish rule.

Among them stands a feared Viking war leader,

Olaf Haraldsson.

The story is told when Æthelred comes back from Normandy to England. He has

support of Olaf Haraldsson, this Viking warlord who has his own fleet.

Olaf Haraldsson?

has been someone who's been involved in raiding and attacking on England and

probably elsewhere in Europe, has made a name for himself freebooting, like many

of these Viking adventurers do.

But crucially, he's also converted to the Christian faith, and he seems to be

someone who Æthelred and his court are trying to use and set up in opposition

Canute.

For Æthelred, the time has come to reclaim his kingdom.

At the head of a fleet, he sets sail for England and marches toward London.

London represents a potential stronghold. It's a logistical hub, rich

measure.

Controlling it, even without fully conquering it, was likely one of

primary objectives upon his return to England.

Æthelred approaches the capital.

the only city that has remained loyal to him.

He knows, however, that the confrontation will be fierce.

London is held by Danish forces loyal to Cnut.

There were points of resistance, as if Cuen had deliberately garrisoned the

fortifications that had been captured.

It makes sense.

A newly conquered kingdom cannot be left undefended.

There was no way to control the territory.

Danish troops were plausibly stationed across the land, guarding key towns and

fortresses.

The garrison entrenched itself in the fortress on the southern bank of the

Thames, blocking access to the city.

At the heart of this defensive network stands the London Bridge.

a fortified obstacle that controls the river and connects both shores.

Against such a stronghold, a siege borders on the impossible.

So Olaf volunteers for one of the most perilous missions imaginable,

to destroy the London Bridge.

He said to have assembled a small flotilla, choosing the most skilled and

courageous men.

With a few bows, they positioned themselves beneath the bridge, secured

reeds and ropes,

and tore away its supports.

The collapse forced the surrender of both Southwark and London.

Quite true or not, I think, is debasable, but it is such a good story

it's very much embedded in the history of Viking Age London.

Even if the story of the bridge's destruction may be legend,

Ethelred enters the city as a victor.

Yet he does not linger.

Giving Canute time to regroup would be a grave mistake.

Tomorrow, he will gather his forces and march north.

In Gainsborough, Canute does not yet grasp the approaching danger.

Why worry?

Has Ethelred not repeatedly proven powerless against the Vikings?

Canute's reaction after his father's death is puzzling.

Remarkably, Ethelred moves swiftly, while Canute appears almost inactive. As

two months passed without any action.

Clute! He's only a young man. He's not his father.

Can he control his own forces?

He can control some of them. Can he control all of the alliances his

made with Scandinavians? I doubt it. I think initially he must have seen

Scandinavians turn against him, and then the Dane law and the other areas of

England that he could count on started to show no support.

And this must be his age. This must be his inexperience.

Two young, overconfident men.

Knut does not yet see the ground slipping beneath him.

On April 25th, Easter Day, a message reaches him from his scouts.

Ethelred has entered Lindsay with a massive army.

Despite having promised to not repeat part abuses, the first thing he does is

charges into the north.

This leads to a massacre in Lindsay, the last unit that supported Knut.

We know Knut had secured the support of Lincolnshire's inhabitants.

promising provisions for his defense, particularly in anticipation of a

campaign. It is therefore entirely logical that Ethelred, as Swain once

raids and plunders areas that show disloyalty or pose potential opposition.

In Gainsborough, Knut finally gathers his forces.

He urges them to defend their king.

But despite his warrior's determination, it is already too late.

This time, the English army holds the upper hand.

Canute at this point is on his back foot. He's in a very difficult position.

so when the lights all go out one after another...

Canute is a good tactician, and just like Edelred, when he's left with only

region left, he left quickly, because at that point he's trying to save whatever

he's got for the next assault.

Canute has no choice.

Leave England or die.

He gathers his last loyal men.

and takes to the sea at the head of his fleet.

Behind him lies a land ravaged by the vengeful fury of the Anglo -Saxons.

It's an enormous, chaotic, swinging backwards and forwards situation.

Ethelred's been driven from the country.

Sven's come to power. Sven's died. There's panic running around of all the

various forces.

Some stay with Canute, most don't. Canute flees. The English...

Open negotiations with Aethelred and Aethelred comes back. It's an immensely

chaotic time.

On his ship, Canute watches the English coast recede.

Defeated by a man he considers weak, he must flee.

He must have been furious.

There must have been quite a lot of people who said they would support him

then turned against him. And so he did exactly what he said he was going to do

in that scenario.

His fleet lands at Sandwich.

The hostages, given by the English nobility during his father's conquests,

cast ashore.

What should be done with these men?

For Canute, mere execution would be far too gentle a revenge.

He wants to make an example.

What if there's a time machine? Would you like to have dinner with Canute?

Absolutely not. I think he's a ruthless, scary individual, and I think all of us

in the modern world would run screaming from him. I think if you survive in this

environment, if you thrive in this environment, you're a pretty scary,

creature in yourself.

And Canute is good at it.

Without the slightest remorse.

He orders them to be mercilessly mutilated.

Knut employed a range of corporal punishments, standard under the law of

time, cutting off hands, parts of the face, ears or nose.

These practices appear in contemporary legal codes, including those issued by

Wolfstein. And so I think for him this is a parting shot. This is saying, I may

be leaving now, but I'll be back.

And don't underestimate me. Do not cross me.

This is what happens to people who cross me.

They don't get killed. They get injured in ways that will maim them for life and

make them and everyone else who meets them remember what I'm capable of.

Harald watches with concern as his brother ships near the coast.

crowned king of Denmark upon their father's death.

He cannot know Knut's true intentions.

At the back of Harold's mind, and at the back of Knut's mind, is this sort of

notion that this Danish kingdom isn't big enough for the two of us here. This

a situation where the two brothers are at some point going to have to face off,

potentially, against one another. One might imagine that Harold would... feel

little bit nervous about the presence of his war -experienced brother back at

the kingdom.

Though always close, Canute and Harold's brotherly bond cannot mask the tension

that day.

Knut initially seems intent on reclaiming part of the Danish kingdom.

From Harald's perspective, Knut is a threat, because Knut's interests lie in

becoming king.

Harald's interests lie in keeping the kingship, and so Knut back in Denmark is

one prince too many for a kingdom that has just lost sway.

In the throne hall, now under his control, Harald invites Knut to speak.

Yet his younger brother's claims could ignite a dangerous war of succession.

If Harold refuses, Knut must choose.

Submit or fight.

If Knut was the astute politician I believe, it made sense for him to adapt.

Very well, if you're unwilling to grant me anything, I will demonstrate loyalty

and friendship instead.

This may have been the surest way to achieve his aims, avoiding direct

confrontation and certain defeat.

Barely 20 years old, Knut has already lost everything.

His throne, his kingdom, and perhaps even his future.

Unwilling to live in his brother's shadow, he sees one path.

Reclaim by force what he believes is rightfully his.

This is not a man who is accepting his role in Denmark as the second son.

This is instead a man who is waiting for his opportunity to reinvade England.

He's waiting and he's watching for some key mistake.

in the English regime to be made that gives him a new way in.

After 30 years of a chaotic reign, Æthelred

finally recovers his throne.

Yet he now faces a nobility steeped in mistrust and betrayal.

A nest of scorpions, at whose heart he believes he has found a loyal ally.

Eadric Streona.

Eadric Streona is the bad man of the first half of the 11th century in

politics.

His nickname, Strainer, it means the grasper, the acquisitor. In addition to

which, he doesn't seem to have very much of what we would say moral fibre, or

he's a brilliant survivor, which one we want to say. And he flip -flops between

supporting whoever looks like they might win.

And we don't quite know why.

But for whatever reasons, Æthelred gives Eadric more and more power and

authority, and it's clear that many of those at court resent this, that the new

guard coming in, that Æthelred places absolute trust in.

Eadric never leaves the king's side, feeding his paranoia day after day.

At 47, weakened by illness,

Æthelred faces yet another threat, the struggle for his own succession.

So all the sons of the king are considered to be otherlings, so you

have a number of contenders to the throne. It's a bit of a political brawl,

it also means that the son who's the best leader and who has a strong...

faction behind him among the noblemen will come to the top, rather than

necessarily the firstborn, who may not be the best.

Two lines now vie for power.

First, from his union with Elgifu of York.

Six sons.

At that point,

the eldest son, Edmund Ironside, appears to have the upper hand.

He's a young man in his early 20s, perhaps a little younger or older,

highly respected and clearly eager to go to war.

Opposing him, the second line.

Edward and Alfred.

Born of Æthelred's second wife, a noblewoman from across the Channel,

Emma of Normandy.

Emma of Normandy is the daughter of the Duke of Normandy, Richard I.

who is a descendant of Rolo, so the Viking who established Normandy as a

in the 9th century.

And she seems to be a very aggressive political figure that she's influenced

there, as we know, by Norman politics, where women took a much greater role.

They really didn't do this in English politics.

She is extraordinarily powerful and not shy about exerting that power.

So Emma dedicated her life, really, to making sure that one of her sons was on

the throne.

Emma has no intention of letting the throne slip from her grasp in favor of a

son from a previous marriage.

At court, the treacherous Eadric may prove a valuable ally against Edmund's

ambition.

by Æthelred's later years. Emma, his queen, quite possibly Æthelred himself,

certainly others at court aligned with Eadric, or creating a faction.

And that faction may well be working to try to line up eventually the succession

of Edward and Alfred, Æthelred's sons with his second wife Emma, over his sons

with his first wife.

And so what we start seeing is a fracturing of the dynasty between rival

The king summons a great assembly.

Nobles from across the realm gather.

Among them stand Seaforth and Morcar, two leading figures of the

Danelaw, both known for supporting Edmund's claim to the throne.

As the feast reaches its height,

Iadric Streona approaches the king.

With a simple gesture, Æthelred gives the order to strike.

He has Seaforth and Morcar invited by Iadric Streona to a meeting,

and then they are murdered. They are just murdered.

The king seizes their lands, and he has Seaforth's widow placed in Malmesbury

Abbey. What happens there is that Ethelred has created a scenario whereby

son, his trusted friends and allies, are now being attacked by his own father.

For Edmund, it is a crushing blow.

His closest allies are dead.

Worse, Ethelred now openly favours Edward, Emma's son.

On August the 15th, 1015, Edmund acts.

He travels to the monastery of Malmesbury,

abducts Yargif, widow of Sifir, and marries her on the spot,

claiming her late husband's inheritance.

It's a crucial and enormous act if he's aligning himself again. And

what we have here is shock and horror, because suddenly the king and the

heir are at loggerheads, and they're at war with each other.

By attacking the northern nobility, Æthelred fractures his kingdom once

pushing England to the brink of civil war.

The news spread like wildfire.

A few days earlier, Canute had issued the call to arms.

Now, from one end of the country to the other, thousands march towards

the capital.

Canute has waited months for this moment.

The fractures tearing England apart offer him the perfect opportunity for

revenge.

The tree has a trunk, and you see one trunk above the ground, as it were. But

you were to grab that and pull it out of the ground, you see all these roots,

and each root leaps to another unit and to another unit, and they spread out in

a myriad of ways. So Canute doesn't have direct contact with people even a few

stages down.

When a king calls, as opposed to a local nobleman, you get an enormous amount of

uptake of this.

To launch his reconquest, Knut relies on a man from Norway, Erik

of Lade, an old ally of his father, destined to be the

cornerstone of his great army.

Erik's family has been slowly consolidating power over northern

pretty much then all of Norway down to the south. They are probably the most

powerful dynasty ruling any part of Scandinavia.

Eric, moreover, has married one of Knuth's half -fifters. He was therefore

family ally, a recognized war leader, a man of great power and considerable

charisma, widely respected, and very likely someone who played the role of a

mentor to Knuth.

As the army gathers, an alarm sounds.

A fleet approaches off the coast.

filled with men and weapons.

At its head is Thorkell the Tall, fearsome Viking leader,

Æthelred's ally for more than three years.

Of all his followers, Thorkell was likely the most loyal. Yet, in 1015, he

to vanish from England, returning discreetly to Denmark.

with only a few ships.

And he stays a little bit offshore.

This is a man who's not quite sure if the Danish royal family are going to try

and kill him or not, but also he doesn't want to give them the opportunity.

Knut is intrigued and agrees to hear out this formidable adversary.

Fokker knows England extremely well. Its balance of power, its terrain, such

knowledge could be of great value.

Knut studies the man.

30 years his senior.

Once among his father's greatest enemies.

A single gesture could have ended him.

But instead, Knut offers his hand.

Knut accepts the allegiance very quickly, without reserve.

Securing the support of such an experienced, influential and

leader is sufficient.

Erik then stands as Knut's positive guiding force.

Thorkell, his darker, more ambivalent counterpart.

Together, they form the two paternal figures around whom Knut builds himself

his army.

They're the very best allies he could find, both among the Norwegians and the

Danes. His ability to surround himself with talent is extraordinary.

At first light, Knut gives the order to set sail.

At the head of a fleet of 200 ships, he heads towards England.

The entomium of Queen Emma records the fleet as being dazzling to behold. It

uses these sort of grandiose Latin terms, emphasising sight of this

terrible war fleet that is brought.

to England in 1015 so for an observer standing on the English coast

there must have been a view of this kind of forest of masts and sails and it

must be a terrible sight to behold but

as the fleet nears the English coast

Canute turns south

Unlike his father two years earlier, he does not aim for the north.

His target is the heart of power, Wethix.

He's now had a taste of England. He's been around it a bit. He's spent a bit

time there, and he can see that what he needs more than anything else is he

doesn't need to go to the part that looks like Scandinavia because it's most

convenient for him. He needs to go to the part that's least convenient for him

to understand and interact with because that's where you rule England from, and

that's the wealthy south.

The ships skirt the coast of Kent, pushing into Dorset.

On board, carried by the dark waters of the river,

Canute recalls the day a year earlier when he first set foot on English soil

beside his father.

Today, he fights for his own name, for the oath whispered over Zane's lifeless

body.

By the time Canute comes back to England, he's... still young, but

considerable experience.

He's had those early moments in England, working first with his father

successfully, those difficult moments where it all went wrong. He's had a few

years' experience. He's had experience now back at his brother's court in

Denmark and some of the difficulties he's encountered there. So he's

coming back a wilyer, more experienced political operator and not someone who

anybody in England, I think, would underestimate.

Wessex is among the kingdom's best defended territories.

But Knut is confident.

His ships give him a decisive edge.

These long ships, often miscalled Dracars, are the key to Viking striking

Britain may see itself today as a navy first in its military, but it wasn't

then. And it had nothing in comparison to these longboats that the Vikings

What made Scandinavian ships so effective in this period was the fact

managed to be very seaworthy, could travel significant distances, could

large numbers of men, but still have a relatively shallow draft.

And so what that allows them to do is to travel quite far up navigable rivers,

to beach quite easily, and to land and then attack local people.

Canute's army devastates all in its path.

Dorset.

Wiltshire.

Somerset.

The young Dane advances relentlessly.

Between Knut's hesitation in 1013 to 1014 and his return in 1015 to 1016,

there's a dramatic shift. He knows exactly what must be done, and he

coldly, efficiently, and with calculation.

A highly effective approach, no doubt advised by the two men at his side,

probably the finest war leaders of the North.

Knut learned from his past mistakes.

He gives the enemy no respite.

At the head of their troops, Eric and Thorkell descend on English lands like a

swarm of locusts.

Knut rarely goes into battle himself.

Like Octavian during Rome's civil war, he remains behind.

reflecting, pulling strings, giving orders, relying on powerful men to act.

But his followers clearly trust him and are willing to go into battle in his

stead.

The Scandinavian forces set up camp in Mercia, one of the kingdom's richest

regions and undoubtedly one of the most difficult to subdue.

At least, until a man appears on the outskirts of the camp.

Canute is intrigued and watches the stranger approach.

It is none other than Jadrig Stryona, Æthelred's closest advisor.

Instead of defending his king, he presents himself before his most

enemy.

key moments in many ways in the strategies of 1015.

Why Eadric decides to betray Æthelred is really the million pound question.

He'd risen on Æthelred's coattails, but if we look at Eadric's later career,

what it seems to teach us is that he's somebody who was interested in one thing

and one person only, and that was Eadric Streona. So what he does is he decides

to jump before he's pushed and figures that his best bet for maintaining his

position of power and influence is to then be the kingmaker, to be the one who

secures Canute's claim to the throne and then hopefully reaps dividends from

that.

Like his father two years earlier, Canute strikes at the very heart of the

kingdom.

Once again, Æthelred does nothing to stop the invasion.

Left to fend for themselves, the nobles have no choice but to submit to the

Dane, one after another.

By securing the allegiance of this aristocracy through its very presence,

symbolically exposes the king's absence.

The ruler is not there to defend his ancestral lands. He's a failed king, and

therefore an illegitimate one. Politically, it's a masterstroke, and

it works.

The campaign seems almost effortless.

Yet Knut does not realize that this time a far more formidable opponent awaits

him.

Feint intervenes once again.

King Æthelred falls gravely ill.

Setting aside old quarrels, he entrusts command of the war to his son, Edmund

Ironside.

The big change that happens with Edmund Ironside taking over is that we have a

competent and present English leader.

But he is the Englishman who will fight back against Canute. Between those two,

there's an equality in their fights.

If you read this as a narrative, you're not quite sure which way it's going to

go until the final battle happens, as it were.

To confront Canute, Edmund must rally the full strength of the kingdom.

For now, his army is dangerously thin.

Accompanied by his personal guard, he rides tirelessly across the region,

loyal to the crown, calling upon the fiat, the levy of free men.

Fiat is the term for the army, and it would have been composed, typically, of

small inner entourage.

potentially professional soldiers or near professional soldiers, senior

aristocrats, who saw war as one of their main pastimes, but then supplemented

with a local militia, so with individuals called up from local

in the army.

These men were expected to arrive with their own resources and weapons, which

was far from simple.

Such levies often produced armies that were uneven, poorly equipped, unevenly

trained. To resist Knut, Edmund repeatedly mobilizes the kingdom's free

raising new forces whenever possible.

To his troops, Edmund strives to embody leadership.

But the conflicts that once opposed him to his father have left deep scars.

Many distrust the young prince, judging him to be overly ambitious.

There was a real question for those loyal to Æthelred as to whether or not

Edmund was friend or foe. This is one of the things that hamstrings Edmund's

initial attempts to resist, is that he's not able to secure that support and

that the main English army under Æthelred's authority is not willing to

Edmund. This is quite serious.

This is a refusal to do the king's bidding.

Edmund is there on behalf of his father, and these armies are refusing to come

to the meeting places and join up. This is very, very bad news.

In London, Ethelred receives a message.

His son pleads for aid.

Despite the illness consuming him, the king orders his guard to assemble and

rides west.

A few days later, Edmund welcomes his father.

He studies him closely.

All of England's hopes now rest on this old, weary, ageing king.

As a final little sort of bump in this, Ethelred is warned, maybe it's real,

maybe it's just paranoia, that some part of the army or somebody there is going

to kill him.

The king apparently panics and runs into the safety of London, and the army just

disbands. You can see the problems here and the fragility of the English forces,

and this is the major problem that Edmund has.

But once again, Ethelred withdraws.

Edmund is isolated and has no choice.

He rides north, prepared to risk everything.

At Bamburgh, he meets Uhtred, Earl of Northumbria.

The man supported Spain and Cnut the previous year, yet remains tied to

through marriage alliances.

He's experienced as a warrior. He's got troops.

He's got... power. And so Edmund reaches out to Uhtred, and Uhtred actually

joins forces with the English forces against the Danes. This might seem

anachronistic, because earlier Uhtred seemed to have some association with the

Danes, but Uhtred is going to be friends with whoever gets Uhtred the most

power. This is then combined with the fact that he was closely allied with

people like Morcar and Seaforth, so who've just been purged from the court,

therefore do not look kindly upon...

Aethelred and his regime, and so for Edmund, Uhtred is a logical ally.

With Uhtred now at his side, Edmund finally commands forces capable of

challenging Canute.

Yet instead of facing his rival, he turns south towards Merthyr.

Unleashing his strength against those nobles accused of treachery.

Once again,

the English fight among themselves while the Danes devastate the kingdom.

Everybody thought that they would attack the Danish army, but...

It's much better, from their perspective, to pursue their own

And at this point, I think that their interests are Iadric Streona. So Knut is

problem, yeah, sure, but Iadric's support for Knut is the big problem.

And I don't think at this point they necessarily have national interests at

heart. But, you know, in these circumstances, who could blame them?

Facing the growing alliance between Edmund and Uhtred, Canute turns to

A direct confrontation would be too great a risk.

Together with his commanders, he devises a daring plan.

At dawn, they will outmaneuver the enemy and strike deep into the heart of

Uhtred's own lands.

Of course, the Uhtred episode, glorious though it is for the English, is

unfortunately short -lived. What Knut does, again, always the brilliant

tactician, he himself and Erik, they go to Utrecht's house and they threaten him

at home when he's taken most of his forces away with him to the south.

Danish forces descend upon Northumbria, ravaging territories left dangerously

undefended.

In the awake, towns and villages fall, one after another.

Uhtred is panicked. He was not ready for this at all, and he withdraws from the

fight in the south of England, and he heads home.

Returning to Bambara, Uhtred discovers his stronghold already in Danish hands.

In the great hall of his palace, Canute awaits him.

Seated upon the throne that once belonged to his host.

Facing the young Dane, Uhtred immediately understands that there is no

Submission is his only hope of survival.

The difference between Knut and Thrain is clear.

Thrain relied on hostages and negotiated loyalty.

Knut, however, had already experienced how fragile aristocratic allegiance

be. Shortly after submitting, Uhtred was most likely assassinated.

Uhtred is gone from the picture. This mighty English warrior who could have

turned the tide for Edmund, he's a piece that's off the chessboard. Click, and

he's gone, and it's checkmate to Knut just for the moment.

Wessex, Mercia, and much of northern England now lie under Canute's control.

Edmund can rely only on his own strength if he hopes to prevail.

As for Æthelred, sick and weakened, he remains confined within London.

For Canute, the conquest of England now seems inevitable.

And yet, once more, Fate is about to intervene.